ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM: COUNCIL ALARMED OVER BUDGETARY IMPACT OF OVERHAUL OF OFFICIALS' STATUTES.

Careers.The Commission proposal demanding three years of university education as the minimum training requirement for appointment to a post in the new "AD" group of officials received a favourable welcome, but several delegations expressed reservations regarding the demand of a year's professional experience or a further year of university study. Several delegations by contrast called for officials, in addition to having an in-depth knowledge of one Community language, to have a working knowledge of two others.The Council's working group on Statutes expressed strong reservations over provisions providing for the inclusion in the Statutes of a minimum promotion rate for each grade, a provision not compatible according to the majority of delegations with career patterns based on merit and respect for the competence of the budgetary authority. In addition, some delegations expressed their concern regarding the scope for not recruiting to the basic grade of civil service group, but to one of the four first grades of each civil service group. Questions were also raised regarding the need to maintain the requirement of a minimum of two years seniority in a grade before being eligible for promotion to the next grade.The majority of delegations expressed concern over the complexity of the transition system, and emphasised the need to avoid any increase in wage costs in the context of the transition towards a new career structure, particularly as this transitional system will remain applicable for several years after the revision of the statute. The Statutes group is concerned by the risk that the speed of integration of officials in the new grid should not be linked excessively to rapid promotion, which would not a priori be consistent with the principle of merit in career plans. As a result, and in order to better assess the transition system - notably regarding its budgetary repercussions - certain delegations have demanded additional examples for comparing cases of officials recruited under normal procedures and those already in service, under the hypothesis of their securing or failing to obtain promotion(s).Pay and pensions.The delegations unanimously maintained their basic reservation on the permanent integration in the statute of the method for the adaptation of pay. It was recalled that the principle of maintaining a parallel between national and Community public office, at least as it is currently applied, is open to criticism as the...